Kevin Hines is a 43-year-old author, filmmaker, and activist for mental health. His best-selling memoir, Cracked, Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt, his 2018 multi-award-winning documentary Suicide: The Ripple Effect, and his awards such as The Clifford W. Beer Award from Mental Health America 2016 and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council of Behavioral Health while in a partnership with Eli Lilly. Though these factors are prevalent in Hines’s career, he is best known for speaking about his survived suicide attempt. 

Hines’s life started with two neglectful parents who both suffered from manic depression which led to their abuse of substances and alcohol, leading to Hines and his brother being taken and put into a foster home. There, Hines’s parents gave him an enriching life, and up until the age of 17, he was a generally happy individual. At ages 17-19, Hines began to struggle with his mental health, with conditions such as depression and bipolar disorder, and as it declined more and more with each passing day, he finally, at age 19, decided and began to plan how he would take his life. As he arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge and jumped, he was instantly regretful. When his body hit the cold water, his life changed completely, and unbeknownst to him, his prayers for life would be answered. He is part of the less than 1% of individuals able to survive such an attempt.  The account of Hines is certainly chilling and inspirational and there is a possibility his enthralling story may move you, just as it has moved so many individuals to take a step forward for their mental health. If you saw his visit to the COS theater on September 5th, I am certain he may have left you with a beautiful message of life and possibly, a new outlook on mental health as a whole.